The Gengshi Emperor (
Chinese: 更始帝;
pinyin: Gēngshǐ Dì;
Wade–Giles: Keng-shih-ti; died AD 25), was an
emperor of the
Han Dynasty restored after the fall of
Wang Mang's
Xin Dynasty.[1][2][3] He was also known by his
courtesy nameShenggong (simplified Chinese: 圣公; traditional Chinese: 聖公) and as the King or Prince of Huaiyang (simplified Chinese: 淮阳王; traditional Chinese: 淮陽王; pinyin: Huáiyáng Wáng), a
posthumous title bestowed upon him by
Emperor Guangwu of the
Eastern Han. The Gengshi Emperor was viewed as a weak and incompetent ruler, who briefly ruled over an empire willing to let him rule over them, but was unable to keep that empire together. He was eventually deposed by the
Chimei and strangled a few months after his defeat.[2]

Traditional historians treat his emperor status ambiguously—and sometimes he would be referred to as an emperor (with reference to his
era name—thus, the Gengshi Emperor) and sometimes he would be referred to by his posthumous title, Prince of Huaiyang.[1] The later title implied that he was only a
pretender and the Eastern Han was the legitimate restoration of the earlier Han.

Collapse of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty

Late in
Wang Mang's reign as the emperor of
Xin Dynasty, there were agrarian revolts virtually everywhere in the empire, due to Wang's incompetent rule and the natural disasters of the time. The two largest branches were the
Lülin (concentrated in modern southern
Henan and northern
Hubei) and
Chimei (concentrated in modern southern
Shandong and northern
Jiangsu).[2]

In 22, the most ambitious of the rebels would emerge.
Liu Yan, a descendant of a distant branch of the Han imperial clan, who lived in his ancestral territory of Chongling (舂陵, in modern
Xiangfan,
Hubei), had long been disgusted by Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han throne, and had long aspired to start a rebellion. His brother
Liu Xiu, by contrast, was a careful and deliberate man, who was content to be a farmer. Around this time, there were prophecies being spread about that the Lius would return to power, and many men gathered about Liu Yan, requesting that he lead them. He agreed, and further joined forces with the branch of
Lülin forces who had entered the proximity, and they began to capture territory instead of simply roving and raiding.[2] (It was said that many of the neighborhood young men were initially hesitant to join the rebels, but when they saw that
Liu Xiu, whom they considered wise and careful, joining as well, they agreed to.) In 23, under Liu Yan's leadership, the joint forces had a major victory over Zhen Fu (甄阜), the governor of the Commandery of
Nanyang, killing him. They then sieged the important city of Wancheng (the capital of Nanyang Commandery, in modern
Nanyang,
Henan).